“I Hate This Field”

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Gerard really knows how to find ‘em. A comment that serves as a fitting epitaph for twenty eleven, and a less than cheerful fanfare for the beginning of twenty twelve. Commenter magicbeans:

I hate this field. What we should have had was Christie, Palin, Ryan, Rubio, West and Jindal. That could have been amazing. Instead we got the second stringers and its just impossible to make a choice that doesn’t feel like a disappointment. At least for me.

My own personal choice is to draft Paul Ryan for 2012 but it isn’t going to happen. We will be stuck with Romney or Gingrich and if we manage to win who knows if they will do what needs to be done to shrink the government. Their history says no.

The most passionate desire of the electorate, and the taxpayers, is crystal-clear. And even at this early stage, the most likely achievement of the 2012 election event is going to be to give the national agenda a mighty shove in the opposite direction. The new year isn’t even here yet, and it’s looking a lot more like 1936 than 1980, just because of the disappointing line-up arranged by the opposition.

Once again, it’s an apt time for the “Palin Must Go Home Now!” peanut gallery to line up and offer their apologies for the damage they’ve done. But we can’t hold our collective breath waiting for it.

Indeed. I ask the Palin haters to name ONE THING that would have been worse had she been VP or even President. I’m usually met with stammers and gasps of disbelief in lieu of arguments.

The downside is that even if the GOP manages to not screw this up somehow we’re stuck with a the same candidate running again in 2016. In the event said candidate gets re-elected it will be 2020 before we have somebody listed above and by that time our collective amnesia has set in and we have to remind ourselves why we vote for Republicans by electing a Democrat to screw everything up.

I hate this field. What we should have had was Christie, Palin, Ryan, Rubio, West and Jindal. That could have been amazing. Instead we got the second stringers and its just impossible to make a choice that doesn’t feel like a disappointment. At least for me.

Sorry but except for us political junkies, nobody has ever heard of those guys. Your average American Idol watching, Tweeting, NFL-obsessed voter couldn’t pick any of them out of a lineup. Besides that, not one of those guys is ready to run for president. Every last one of those names needs to stay exactly where they are for at least two more years and do some good there…before even THINKING of trying for the big chair. (Personally, I’d “draft” Jan Brewer, but nobody else seems to agree.)

I read most of the comment thread in which the “magicbeans” comment appears. I understand where he’s coming from with this comment, but the people he mentioned have little name recognition just yet. The denizens of that particular blog don’t seem to grasp that the 40% or so of the electorate that decides elections…are not political junkies like they are.

My outrage is more directed at those who are backing any of the candidates currently polling in the top three. I mean, Mittens? Newt? RON PAUL?? Seriously?

We had three perfectly good fiscal and social conservatives with decent track records running this time around: Perry, Bachmann, and Santorum. Four if you count Huntsman, five if you count Cain, who was run off the stage by some unsubstantiated allegations, accusations that were far tamer than the stuff Clinton was caught red-handed doing.

Any one of them would be fine, and Perry actually has a proven track record of low taxes, energy resource exploration, and job creation in a populous and diverse state. In a sane world, he’d be leading the pack with 40% or better of the GOP polling and 30% or better of the independents…and a few Democrats for good measure.

Instead, he comes in near the top of a list of candidates even Republicans would “never support.” Instead, everybody wants to stick a fork in the guy over Gardasil and his stumble in some debate. Instead, he and the others I mentioned are all polling in single-digits while we watch the catfight between a squishy governor who implemented a state version of the program we’re trying to repeal nationally…a Washington insider with more baggage than Samsonite, and a loony nutbar who has the 1930’s isolationist paleocon / 9-11 Troofer / white supremacist votes locked up.

All three are running for president for at least the 2nd time; three in Paul’s case. All three need to retire from politics and ride off into the sunset. All three are like annoying flies at a picnic that need to GO THE FUCK AWAY, and let someone with decent credentials take a shot at unseating Jug Ears. All three have some chutzpah even thinking about running for President.

I haven’t been this disgusted with my fellow Republicans since they nominated Bob Dole fifteen years ago. Good grief.